Tell Me About Your Gastric Bypass Experience

In My Humble Opinion
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(There are about a dozen threads with similar titles, but none more recent than 2014. So, here we go again! This thread is aimed at people who’ve had this surgery, so I’m not inclined to explain the various procedures, etc., in the OP. Everything is pretty easy to Google, or you can ask.)

I’m a 5’3 female with a BMI of 41, high blood pressure, and uncontrolled type 2 diabetes. I will turn 50 in September. After 5-10 years of trying various things (including a medical weight loss program in 2016) and always eventually failing, about a month ago I decided to pursue bariatric surgery. The reasons I always wind up falling off the “eating better” wagon are complicated, and I need to be forced into a permanent lifestyle change; I want immediate, negative physical consequences if I make bad choices.

At first I was leaning toward a sleeve gastrectomy, because it’s less radical and doesn’t affect nutrient absorption, but I had a consult with the bariatric surgeon on Wednesday and he explained why gastric bypass is better in my case: it has a higher “cure” rate for type 2 diabetes, and doesn’t have the same significant acid reflux side effect that is common with the sleeve procedure. I already have reflux (controlled with a daily Nexium), and I’m really not interested in it getting any worse. He said it’s my choice and he wouldn’t object to a sleeve gastrectomy for me, but I’m going for the bypass.

The insurance coordinator was on vacation this past week, so I won’t learn my insurance company’s requirements – or get any idea of when I might be able to have the surgery – until next week. In the meantime, though, I have a video consult with a dietitian scheduled for next week, and I have a phone consult with an exercise specialist scheduled for mid-August. Also, the surgeon told me that he will require some kind of cardiac testing, plus an endoscopy to make sure my reflux hasn’t caused Barrett’s esophagus – which would take sleeve gastrectomy right off the table. And my primary care doctor has said that although she’ll provide my medical clearance whenever it’s requested, she’d really like to see my A1C get down to less than 9 before the surgery (a month ago it was 10.8; it hasn’t been under 9 since 2018).

I’m at the point where I’d like to hear from others who’ve had this procedure (or the sleeve gastrectomy; they’re similar enough), and I know a bunch of Dopers have gone through it.

I’ve done a ton of research, and I know about all (most?) of the negatives: liquid diets (both before and after surgery), dumping, loose skin, no more NSAIDs or alcohol or soda, needing to take supplements for the rest of my life, etc. I’m very interested in honest anecdotes – positive or negative – from others who’ve had bariatric surgery, but I don’t need anyone to try to “scare” me: I’ll ignore any comments along the lines of “my cousin’s boss’s girlfriend’s hairdresser went in for gastric bypass and DIED” or “my mechanic’s sister’s boyfriend had gastric bypass and weighs 400 pounds now.”

I know there are risks with any procedure, and I plan to have at least one more conversation with the surgeon about them, but I feel that the likelihood of my health continuing to significantly worsen is WAY higher than the likelihood of any serious complication(s). This is going to sound vain and maybe even silly, but my biggest worry at the moment is about the eventual sagging skin. I wish I had some way to be mentally prepared for the extent and/or how it will look. I’m sure it’s different for everyone, but if anyone out there is a short female who lost >100 lbs after surgery I’m super interested in how you feel about your skin. I imagine that having a birthday suit that resembles a baby elephant won’t help me attract men, but if my options are for either my weight to be a turnoff or my loose skin I’ll pick the loose skin (and better health).

Last but not least, I’m open to respectful/sincere questions. :slight_smile:

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I wish you the best of luck with the surgery. Years ago, when bariatric surgery was just taking off, my friend had the surgery by the surgeon who pretty much pioneered it. (James Kane, M.D. RIP). Part of pre surgery was psychological counseling. There is so much more to bariatric surgery than just what you can and cannot eat afterwards. I work (non clinical) in a hospital with a bariatric program. I honestly don’t know if they insist on counseling, but they should. My friend looked into skin removal, but at that time insurance didn’t cover it since it was considered cosmetic. Hopefully that has changed.

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Thank you! :slight_smile:

Yes, psychological screening/counseling will definitely be part of it — both before and after the surgery. I’ll find out the extent when I talk to the insurance coordinator this week. I’m also hoping she’ll know whether my insurance might cover skin removal surgery, but that could be years down the road. I’ve heard that many companies still consider it to be cosmetic, like you say.

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I guess none of the Dopers who’ve had bariatric surgery are around (here) anymore. Boooo. :frowning:

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I had the bypass 8 years ago, and my wife 15 years ago. And we’re glad we did!
But it’s still early morning here. I’ll post more later.

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That’s my wife. Some of the plastic surgery had to be skipped because the insurance considered it cosmetic. But she got an awful lot of rashes under many of the folds, and that was bad enough to be covered. I should point out that it took until about 5 years after the surgery to get to that point. I should point out that her clothing choices are not very revealing, so the sagging was mostly a comfort issue, not appearance.

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In general, the advice I give is this:

Like most things in life, the bigger risks tend to yield bigger rewards. So too here: Gastric bypass is more drastic than the sleeve, and tends to produce more weight loss. At the same time, it is more drastic and therefore scarier. Only you can decide what is best for you. Both my wife and I went for the full roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

If your goal is to simply lose weight magically, quickly, easily, and permanently, then surgery will give you the first three. Yes, it is like magic. A smaller stomach is what we’ve been praying for, no? I remember going to my endocrinologist about 4-6 weeks after surgery, and telling him, “I’m eating 500 calories per day - and I’m not hungry!” Of course the pounds will melt off when you’re eating that little.

But once the weight is gone, you get used to it. And you miss being able to eat to your hearts content. So you figure out how to cheat. The temptation to push the limits can be strong, and those who fail find out that their stomach isn’t so tiny any more, and the weight starts coming back. Not fun. Yes, it is magical in the beginning, but it’s not permanent unless you work at it,

Speaking only for myself, my goal was not to lose weight magically. My goal was to be able to eat like a regular person. I could never understand how other people considered one bowl of cereal to be a filling breakfast, or one sandwich to be a satisfying lunch. Just one? That’s barely a snack! But that’s how normal people eat, and I was jealous of them.

THAT’s the mindset I recommend for people getting this surgery. The surgery itself rejiggers the digestive system, but to me, the real value is how it reprogammed my brain. That same food which had looked like a snack before, is now a turnoff because it is too much to eat. My wife and I joke that we don’t go to restaurants that offer an all-you-can-eat buffet, because it is wasted money. If we each order a regular meal at a restaurant, it is with the expectation of bringing the extra home. It’s not unusual for us to each get one appetizer, and sometimes we can’t finish even that.

And it’s so frustrating, because so many of the appetizers on the menu are so good! But at the same time, being able to walk away from it feels SO good!

Okay, that’s it for now. I’m not much of a talker, so the best way to get more out of me is by asking questions.

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Thank you, Keeve!!! :slight_smile:

I’m not usually one to post just to say that I’ll post more later, but I’ve just gotten home from work after a very long day — I wasn’t even able to check the Dope until just now ( :open_mouth:) — and I don’t want you to feel ignored. I will definitely follow up with more tomorrow!

(I also have more info now: I had my initial wellness consult today, and also a long conversation with the patient coordinator. With luck, I’m looking at surgery in early October!)

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:ok_hand:t3: :+1:t3:

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If the full sense device is proven to work long term, I think that would be something I’d try.

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Depending on how one defines “proof” and “long-term”, I don’t know if ANY weight-loss procedure can be proven effective. There are too many variables, especially relating to desire and will power.

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Well yes, but I more meant effective over the course of 5+ years. The full sense device was tested on patients on a 6 month study and people lost 70% of their excess weight in 6 months, and were still losing at that point. Thats more effective than virtually any other device out there. But they haven’t done any tests for years on end to see what happens. Sadly like most medical ‘breakthroughs’ I’m sure it’ll sit in a lab and never reach the market though, but its an interesting idea.

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Yesterday I talked with the bariatric center’s patient coordinator, and she helped schedule most of the appointments I’ll need — today I made two more. So far I have nine appointments in the next seven weeks! My “submit the final approval request to insurance” date is 8/23, and they want me to have the surgery within two months of that date. My 50th birthday is a month later: I’m planning a long weekend in NYC to celebrate, and I don’t want to start the 2-week pre-op liquid diet until that’s over (I come back on 9/19). So, I think we’re looking at early-to-mid October for the procedure.

I also had my initial nutrition consult yesterday. When it comes to beverages my only vice is Diet Pepsi, but she wants me to stop drinking all soda sooner rather than later…like, now. :frowning: She said giving up soda is often one of the hardest things for people. I’ll finish the bottles that are in my fridge, but I won’t buy any more. I’ll still drink soda here and there while I can, though.

The biggest surprise so far is how much I’m going to wind up paying out of pocket. The psych eval and the liquid diets (2 weeks pre-op and 3 weeks post-op) are the biggies. I’ll have spent nearly $1000 before I even get a bill for the surgery! Don’t get me wrong, I know it will all be worth it. But…sigh.

That actually makes me feel a little better, thank you! Not that your wife had to deal with such severe rashes — and I am concerned about rashes, boils, sores, etc. — but that it took so long for the loose skin to be a serious problem and that it was more of a comfort vs appearance thing. I’m not planning to become a bikini model or anything, but it would be a shame if I lost 100+ pounds and still couldn’t wear tank tops due to the batwings or couldn’t wear the “right” size jeans because of the belly skin. :smiley:

That’s pretty much where I’m at. I don’t have the same portion control issues you did, but I am all about permanently changing my relationship with food. Of course I do want to lose weight, but mostly I’m concerned about my health: I already have some neuropathy in my feet, and the diabetes will literally kill me if I don’t get it under control. My mom never got her type 2 under control, and I saw what it did to her.

Is there anything you didn’t know before your surgery that you wish someone had told you?

I’d never even heard of that! Yes, interesting idea.

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I had RNY (gastric bypass) on July 22 of last year. I’m 5 pounds away from goal weight, and have lost 125 pound since surgery, and 195 pounds since I made the decision to have the surgery. Due to COVID, my process was about 6 months start to finish, but I feel like the delay helped get my mind straight for all the lifestyle changes.

For me, the biggest surprise is the massive body dysmorphia I have now. I still see myself as that fat woman, rather than the average to skinny woman I am now. My loose skin is problematic, and I’m already saving for a tummy tuck - for me, I’m getting rashes in my folds so I’m hoping insurance will at least pay part. But overall, I have no regrets whatsoever, and I only wish I had done this 5 or 10 years ago. I feel so much better, move so much better and just overall feel healthier.

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Thank you, Cassie_Beth!!! I hope you don’t mind a bunch of questions… :slight_smile:

You lost 70 pounds before surgery? Impressive!

Did you have a laparoscopic procedure? If so, what was your recovery like? The surgeon told me 1-2 nights in the hospital with a return to work in 1-2 weeks, but what was your experience?

In my daydreams I have surgery on a Thursday, come home on Friday or Saturday, start working remotely on Monday (with “1-2 weeks” being when I go back to the office), and am able to drive and pick my dog up from the kennel by the end of the week…am I totally off my rocker? :smiley:

I know what you mean by the delay helping to get your mind straight. I made the decision on 6/2 (after seeing my most recent labs), attended an informational webinar on 6/9, and had my initial surgical consult on 6/30: I didn’t expect the ball to start rolling quite so quickly afterwards, and to be looking at surgery within four months! On Thursday I had both my initial nutrition consult and a conversation with the patient coordinator (talking about insurance and setting up appointments and determining a target schedule). I didn’t learn much that I hadn’t already heard/researched, but for whatever reason it all kind of hit me…I’ll admit that I had a little trouble falling asleep that night, as some reality set in.

How was the dietary adjustment for you?

Were there any surprises in the exercise department? My first exercise consult will be this coming Thursday.

Interesting! I feel like I have the opposite issue: even though I’ve been significantly overweight for almost 30 years and my t-shirt size is now 3X, in my head I’m still the size I was in college. Not to the point of dysmorphia, but I avoid mirrors and photos of myself because they tell the truth. :frowning: I wonder how all of it will work out. I have my psych eval in four weeks; I’ll try to remember to ask about this.

I’m starting to accept that loose skin is just something I’m going to have to deal with, and I’ll see what happens whenever it develops. {sigh} How soon after surgery did it start becoming a real issue for you? If you don’t mind sharing, do you know approximately how much the tummy tuck will cost if insurance doesn’t cover any of it?

In addition to my belly I’m also expecting loose skin on my arms, and maybe my boobs. When I brought up loose skin with the surgeon he asked if I had any stretch marks, and when I said yes he made a face like “oh, too bad”…and I have them on my boobs. It seems like your tummy is the worst for you, but where else is the loose skin significant?

That’s what I hope to keep hearing from folks who have done this. :slight_smile: Thank you, again!

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I worked with a woman who had a gastric bypass. She dropped from huge to just large, and was much more attractive afterwards. The change was gradual, of course, but she showed me some before and after photos, and it was really striking. Her face, in particular, looked SO much nicer after she lost the weight.

She started dating after losing the weight. She also started exercising, and got seriously into bicycling. She really seemed like a happier and more well-rounded person.

She gained a little weight after a few years, from her low, but she never got close to her pre-surgery weight. I never noticed any skin folds. I mostly saw her in business clothes, though, so perhaps she had issues with that. She was wealthy enough to have cosmetic surgery if she wanted to.

My SIL lost an enormous amount of weight without gastric surgery. She went to some quack nutritionist who put her on an elimination diet, and for months she ate nothing but brown rice and avocado (and probably vitamin pills.) She gradually added other foods to her diet, but meticulously weighed every bite for years after that. I’m unkind calling the nutritionist a quack, because his advice worked. But my guess is he was a better psychologist than nutritionist. After losing a lot of weight, she also had breast reduction surgery and surgery to remove folds of loose skin, both of which were a financial burden for her. Today she eats a normal (vegan) diet and doesn’t weigh her food when I eat with her. She remains a large woman (she’s very tall, as well as somewhat heavy) but she looks very attractive and I’m sure her BMI us under 30. So there are non-surgical options. She is also much happier than she was when she was very obese, but honestly, a lot has changed in her life, and she’s done a lot of work on herself, and I don’t know how much of it is due to the weight. I feel like that is one of several self-improvement projects she undertook successfully.

Best wishes.

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Of course there are non-surgical options – many of them! :slight_smile: I don’t think anyone in this thread would ever claim otherwise. And (most) people don’t get approved for surgery if they haven’t already tried several other things. I believe that bariatric surgery is the best option for me, but it is far from my only option.

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Yeah, if that’s what you and your doctor think is best for you, go for it. I mentioned my SIL in part because while her non-surgical weight-loss regimen worked, it was incredibly extreme. She literally ate nothing but plain brown rice and avocado for months. I’m sure that kind of regimen isn’t appropriate for most people. I also brought her up because I know more about her issues with “what happens after losing a ton of weight” than I do about the co-worker. She definitely needed some follow-up treatments. She actually went to a school for cosmetic surgeons and let a student do the breast reduction because that was a lot cheaper than having someone certified do it. And while she was happy with the results, they were imperfect, in ways you might expect a student’s work to be imperfect.

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Yes, I lost about 70 pounds prior to surgery. My PCP would not put in a referral to the bariatric surgeon until I had lost 25 pounds on my own. My nutritionist then put me on a strict low carb diet (less than 40 carbs a day) until surgery. I was supposed to be on it for 2 - 3 months (including no cheating whatsoever the 2 weeks prior to surgery) but since my surgery was delayed due to COVID I was on it for 5 months and dropped almost 50 pounds on it. However, by the end the head hunger was kicking in and I was cheating so I knew it wasn’t sustainable for me and surgery was still the best option. (I got questions about why I wanted to go through surgery considering how well I did on the preop diet.)

I think you are realistic in your recovery time. I had surgery on Wednesday and came home Thursday afternoon. I stayed out of work for 3 weeks, but that was also because I had been working non-stop during COVID and deserved a break (my doctor allowed me up to 4 weeks out of work). However, I don’t work remotely and I honestly feel like I could have worked remotely, or even worked in the office 5 days post op. I was driving to the grocery store 5 days after surgery, just being careful of lifting restrictions since I also had a hernia repair.

I have loose skin on my arms, tummy, and thighs but the tummy bothers me the most. Surprisingly, I kept my boobs - I went from a 44G to a 34DD and have been stable. They aren’t as perky as they used to be, but considering I’m staring 40 in the face, nothing is as perky as it used to be. I was quoted about $10,000 for the tummy tuck and that includes all pre and post op care, anesthesia, pain medication, etc. We don’t have kids so we can splurge on this instead of our two annual vacations next year.

Feel free to PM or email me as well as you go through the process. I had a lot of friends who helped me out in my preop process, and because of that want to pay it forward since their input was so helpful.

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I am the reverse. Maybe it’s because I’m a man and not obsessed with my figure, I don’t know. But although I was overweight my whole life, I didn’t see myself as morbidly obese, no matter what the doctor said. Yeah, I knew the numbers don’t lie, but mentally, psychologically, when I looked in the mirror, I saw a normal guy who was somewhat overweight. But now, when I look at my pre-surgery photos, I see a fat slob, and I can’t understand how I didn’t see it before.

Not sure exactly what reminded me of this story, but the best compliment I got on my new look was from my 6-year-old granddaughter. They live in my neighborhood, and at the time, I was walking her to school each morning. So it was about a month after my surgery, and she saw me Friday morning, nothing unusual, everything okay. But three days later, on Monday morning, I came to the door, and she looked at me and exclaimed, " :scream: Grandpa! What happened to your face ??? :scream: "

I supposed that a lot of pounds had melted off that weekend. Every since that day, I’ve been saying, “If you want honesty, ask a kid.”